Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation-Chapter 552: People are Curious

Chapter 552 – People are Curious

That made Ely freeze again. Her mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.

She blinked. "So... the fight had no rules?"

Sira sipped her tea, eyes glinting just enough to be scary. "It has rules," she said casually. "Greed rules."

Ely stared at her. "That... doesn’t sound reassuring and... weird."

"It’s not."

And just like that, the silence returned. Heavy. Weighted.

No one touched their food for a moment.

Then Lux stood.

"I’m done." His voice cut through the room like a knife through silk. Not angry. Just... final.

He moved his plate aside, his eyes unreadable again. Like the mask had settled back into place.

"I’ll go change my clothes," he added. "Maybe drop our guest somewhere on the way. Or any of you, if you want to come. Or find some fresh air." He rolled his shoulder like something was still a little stiff. "Anyway, I need to get the blood off."

Ely glanced at his collar again. The stain hadn’t faded completely.

He didn’t wait for a response. Just turned and began walking.

No limp anymore. Not even a hitch in his step.

Sira watched him go with narrowed eyes, then looked back at Ely.

But before anyone could say a thing, Lyra entered from the side hall, walking briskly and holding a silver-trimmed envelope in both hands.

"My lord," she called softly, catching up to him. "Forgive me. I forgot to give you this earlier."

Lux turned back, brows lifted. "Hmm?"

She handed him the envelope.

He opened it. The paper inside was thick. Text engraved in gold ink.

He read the first line.

"...A conference?" His tone was confused. "Mortal?"

Sira perked up. "Wait, what kind of conference?"

Naomi stood now, brushing crumbs off her fingers as she approached. "Lux, it’s not strange. You’ve been going to a lot of events lately. People recognize you. That’s how this works. You show up, and suddenly every host wants your signature in their guestbook."

He gave her a dry look. "Great."

Naomi grinned, clearly not sorry. "You’ve built a reputation."

He sighed, flicked the invitation with his thumb, then tucked it into his back pocket. "Fine. I’ll go. I have nothing better to do tomorrow."

And then he vanished down the hall toward his room. A door clicked softly a few seconds later.

The moment he was gone, the room exhaled a collective breath. Not relief. Just space.

Ely sat very still.

And then, once Lux was out of sight...

"Guys," she said. "Listen to me."

Naomi looked up, surprised by her tone.

"Last night? That melody? It didn’t just attract me. It attracted a lot of people. Like... seriously. It made the news."

Sira’s brow lifted. "The news?"

"Okay, not like... headline news. But people were talking about it. Forums. Threads. Even gossip columns. Some paparazzi literally parked outside your block this morning. I saw them."

Naomi stiffened. "What?"

Ely nodded quickly. "I’m serious. They didn’t get far because... well..." She glanced toward the window. "Your guard dog."

"Fenrir," Sira muttered.

"Yeah. Him. Big. Angry. Very teeth-y." Ely rubbed her arms like she still felt the cold glare from the beast. "Scared off at least five creepers with cameras. He almost peed on one."

Sira chuckled. "That sounds like him."

Ely shook her head, her tone growing more urgent. "Look. Maybe you all don’t know this, but Lux? He’s the talk of the city now. Not in, like, the mainstream. But in the high society bubble? He’s becoming a name."

Mira raised a brow. "You mean... name-name? Or like... gossip name?"

"Both," Ely said. "People keep mentioning him. Whispering. Wondering. He’s mysterious. Powerful-looking. Rich, clearly. Connected to you guys." She gestured around the table. "He shows up at events and then vanishes. He took over businesses and disappeared. People are curious."

Lullaby stretched and yawned, flopping onto a nearby couch like a sleepy cat. "Is that bad?"

"Yes and no," Ely said, sitting straighter. "It’s... dangerous. People in that world? They don’t like unknowns. They either want to own him or destroy him. And he’s already upsetting the balance."

Naomi crossed her arms. "By existing?"

"No. By seducing everyone."

The room went quiet.

Ely flushed. "I don’t mean literally. He’s not flirty-flirty, but... he does that thing. The thing where he looks at you and your skin gets hot. And he talks like he’s already in your head. Like he already knows how to get you to say yes."

The girls exchanged looks.

Then...

"Yeah," Naomi murmured.

"Kinda makes sense," Sira added.

"He is like that," Mira said, swirling her tea with a faint sigh.

Ely blinked. "Wait, you’re not even surprised?"

Mira gave her a knowing look. "Ely. We live with him."

"He’s always like this," Naomi added. "This is normal."

"Yup. Just normal for him," Rava clarified.

Sira leaned forward, resting her chin on her palm. "You still think he runs a funeral business?"

Ely frowned. "Yes. What else? The whole ’I’m not from this realm’ thing? How am I supposed to guess? Demon?"

Naomi cringed slightly. "Oh dear... The irony."

Ely blinked. "Huh?"

"...Does it bother you?" Mira asked softly.

Ely paused. Her first instinct was to say yes.

Because it should bother her, right? That someone could bleed and still walk. That someone had eyes like war and a voice like a spell.

But...

"No," Ely said finally. "It doesn’t."

Everyone looked at her.

"I don’t know why," she went on, "It’s weird. But it doesn’t scare me. More like... in a ’what the hell did I walk into’ way."

Sira smirked. "You walked into hell. Literally."

"I noticed," Ely muttered, half joking.

Naomi stood again, stretching. "Well. If the city’s buzzing, we’ll need to prepare."

"For what?" Mira asked.

Naomi’s gaze sharpened. "For exposure. For visits. For invitations. Maybe even for attacks."

"That escalated," Ely whispered.

"That’s life with him," Naomi replied. "Things don’t stay quiet for long."

Then the door creaked open.

Lux stepped back into the room, dressed now in a fresh charcoal-gray shirt and fitted black slacks. No blood. No bandages. Just clean lines and calm steps.

Everyone looked at him.

He paused mid-step. "...What did I miss?"